


One Perfect Day

by CreativeTadpole



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, F/M, please don't yell at me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:28:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27756922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreativeTadpole/pseuds/CreativeTadpole
Summary: It is meant to be the happiest day of your life.
Relationships: Andrew Mendoza/Emily Prentiss
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7





	One Perfect Day

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger/Content Warnings are at the end. 
> 
> This was originally written for a friend as a challenge to write something super sad and angsty. It's very AU and it's not the best but it has been siting on my laptop for a while so I thought I was post it here. 
> 
> We didn't get to see much of their relationship on the show so it was hard for me to write them but I hope it seems somewhat 'believable'.

She shifted on her feet outside the door. Not quite able to make her hand turn the handle. Dr Cartwright had decided that she needed to take a few moments before going in and destroying that man’s life. She took a deep breath and mentally went over the conversation she had been rehearsing ever since she had left the operating room. This was never going to be easy. Nothing like this was ever easy. But there was something about this time that made it so much worse. Maybe it was because, only this morning, she was expecting to see a healthy mother and baby at the end of this. Not this. Anything but this. 

His heart jumped as he heard the door open. With a shot of adrenaline, he was fast onto his feet and moving across the room. Andrew desperately searched the woman’s face for any signs as she entered. Something that would tell him what was going on. Something that would tell him that his family was okay. He quickly noted that her hair was messily pulled back, a few stray strands hanging tired over her face. However, he didn't see any of the telltale regret or sadness he had been painfully imagining over and over these past few hours. A glimmer of hope was ignited within him. 

_ Maybe everything was okay.  _

Not able to wait for any longer Andrew got straight to the point. “Are they okay?” He asked, though he immediately wished he had not. The moment he spoke he saw it. He saw it in her. The way the doctor was holding herself changed. Her shoulders dropped and her eyes darted to the floor as if she was struggling to look him in the eye. The professional façade started to unravel and was replaced with a look of sympathy that caused him physical pain. At that exact moment, he knew their baby was dead. 

“Andrew, I am so sorry.” Her voice was quiet and laced in a pity that made him want to be sick. 

She reached out to place a hand on his shoulder, trying to guide him to a nearby chair, but he stepped back. “No.” Hot tears started to blur his vision and his throat constricted as he tried to speak. “Please, don’t say that.” 

“Why don’t we sit down.” She knew just how much worse this conversation was going to get. 

They sat in silence for a few moments. The doctor unsure if she should continue speaking or let him be for a little while. He appeared to be lost and not quite ready to absorb any further information. She went for the latter, sensing that she should tread carefully and not rush this. She waited for him to say something. 

“Was it…?” Andrew could barely force the words out of his mouth. The pressure in his chest was so intense. “Was it a girl or a boy?”

A sad smile fell on Dr Cartwright face before she replied. “A little boy. I can take you to go and see him in a bit if you would like?” She asked, her voice was warm.

_ A boy. They had a son.  _ He thought about how devastated Emily was going to be.  _ God, Emily. _

Andrew shook his head. “No.” He was almost surprised by the firmness of his response. He felt ashamed at himself for not even wanting to see his baby but he couldn’t do it. Not at this moment when there was only one thing that he wanted. “I want to see her. Take me to Emily, she needs me.” 

There was that look again. But this time he wouldn’t let himself believe it. It couldn’t be true. 

_ Not Emily. Not my Emily.  _

“What? What is it?” Andrew’s voice was barely audible as if he didn’t want to ask the question. Nobody wanted to ask  _ that _ question. He closed his eyes before continuing, he couldn’t bear to see the look on her face again. “Is she okay?” 

The doctor struggled to find the right words. Her mind went blank as she tried to remember what she had planned to say to him. Nothing seemed appropriate. “Andrew I’m...”

He abruptly stood up and cut her off before she could continue. “God damn it! Just tell me, is Emily okay?” He knew the answer. Despite this, one part of him was still desperately grasping on to hope.

_ Just say she is okay. Please.  _

The doctor mentally reprimanded herself for getting so emotional. Not feeling as if she had the right to be upset. After all, she would walk out of this hospital tonight and leave this awful day behind her. No matter how far Andrew walked, this day would haunt him for eternity. 

“Emily didn’t make it. We did everything we could.” 

He heard her say it. He felt it as her words unleashed their torrent of pain on him. And still, it didn’t quite feel real to him. Andrew struggled to understand how this could have possibly happened to them all. Nobody loses this much in one day. They were happy this morning. Excited for the future. Everything had gone so wrong in so little time. And now he was living a nightmare he would never wake from. 

Garcia led the young girl through the hospital corridor. Both girls were walking at a fast pace fueled by nervous excitement. She had gotten a text from Emily, around five hours earlier, explaining that they needed her to pick Keely up from soccer practice this afternoon. Baby Prentiss-Mendoza was making their entrance into the world and Garcia hadn’t been calm ever since. 

The teenager had been staying with her father and Emily for the past week while her mother was on a work trip. The timing hadn’t been perfect. At first, Andrew and Emily had been concerned that it would be too much for her. Especially as the baby was due to make its appearance any day now, but Keely had taken it all in her stride. The thought of a baby brother or sister had left her feeling unsure at first but recently she had been hoping that her sibling would arrive while she was staying with them. She couldn’t wait to meet them. She wanted to help around the house and with the new baby. She liked the idea of them being a family. She had never fully had that before. 

“Did dad say anything? Is the baby here yet?” Keely bugged Penelope. 

The blonde had not been able to concentrate ever since she had gotten the news. It didn’t help that she had been sworn to secrecy by Emily. Though impressively, Garcia had only let it slip once, to JJ, that Emily was having the baby. And she was sure that Emily had known that was inevitable. 

Garcia searched through her bag for her phone which was underneath a pile of fluorescent pens, receipts and other miscellaneous items that had accumulated over time. “Sweetheart, I texted him half an hour ago to tell him we were coming. He hasn’t replied yet.”

The thought did cross her mind. It was a little strange that she hadn’t received an update of how things were going during the day. However, considering Emily didn’t want her to let the rest of the team know what was happening just yet, it hadn’t completely sent her into panic mode. Never mind the fact that Emily and Andrew had probably been a touch preoccupied today. Garcia had just assumed the couple wanted this to be their own time. And despite the fact that it killed her not knowing everything single detail, Garcia respected that. 

Garcia and Keely reached the end of the corridor and stood for a moment while they debated whether they should go left or right. “I swear all these corridors look the same!” Garcia finally located a sign pointing to OB. “Over here Keely, I have found it!” 

The pair turned into the OB corridor and were relieved to see Andrew standing further down the hall. 

They quickly approached him. “Good, it was easier finding you than I thought it was going to be.” Garcia said as she returned her phone to her bag and continued to ramble. “Those receptionists are useless; they tell you nothing! We had to come looking for you ourselves. Didn’t we Keely?” Keely nodded in agreement as the two shared a laugh. She had only met Garcia once before, but Keely had taken a definite liking to the technical analyst and her effervescent personality. 

“Anyway, spill! We need to know what is happening!” Garcia rapidly spoke, her tone was demanding but there was a massive smile on her face. “Is the newest member of our family here yet?” 

Andrew remained silent, barely hearing what Garcia had said. He had not even noticed them arriving. They were just suddenly  _ there  _ and he was not quite sure why. However, he was sure that he didn’t want them here now. They were all smiles. Their minds full of innocent curiosity. Their happiness made him angry. He hated himself for this. He hated the world. 

_ Emily was meant to be happy today.  _

_ Emily.  _ He missed her. He missed her so much already. He needed to see her. To hold her in his arms. To watch the rise and fall of her chest. But the next time he held her, he would be desperately trying to not think about how cold and listless she was in his arms. 

It was Keely that first noticed something wasn’t right. “Dad, what’s wrong?” Her voice was timid. She asked again, almost pleading with her father, but he neglected to answer. 

_ My partner and baby are dead. What am I meant to say? _

Keely had never seen her father like this before. Despite his line of work, he always had this relaxed quality to him. He was calm but strong at the same time. The sort of person you would go to in a crisis. However, at this moment he looked as if he was about to fall apart. 

Then it hit Garcia. He looked straight at her and the anguish in his eyes told her everything she needed to know. “Oh god no,” She cried out, quickly raising a hand to her mouth as she tried to stop any other sobs from escaping to little avail. 

Suddenly remembering the young girl beside her, Garcia protectively pulled Keely into a tight hug. Her dad wasn't available to comfort her. He wouldn't be for a while. He didn't even seem able to tell them what had happened in these last few hours. So, until someone else arrived she was going to have to make sure this girl was okay. Even if Garcia herself was very much not okay. 

Andrew broke. He broke like never before. With his daughter and Garcia staring at him, he could no longer conceal the utter agony he was experiencing. The suffocating guilt that was surrounding him. The emptiness that was creeping slowly into his soul. Keely watched on in terror as her father slid down the hospital corridor wall. Head in his hands he cried. He cried for his son, for Emily and for their little family that never got to fully exist. By then both Garcia and Keely knew that something horrible must have happened, but nothing could have ever prepared them for what he said next. 

“I’ve lost them both.” 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> TW: Infant loss. Major character death. Implied pregnancy complications.


End file.
